Children killed in shelling near school in western Aleppo

At least four children died when shells landed near a school in government-held western Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the school in the al-Suleimaniya area had been targeted in a terrorist attack.

In the rebel-held eastern part of the city, bombing killed 145 people in the last two days, according to the head of the Civil Defence rescue service there, Ammaral Selmo.

Syrian and Russian air strikes targeting rebel-held districts of Aleppo intensified on Tuesday, after a lull of several days designed, according to the Syrian army, to allow civilians caught in the bombing to leave.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia's embassy in Damascus was targeted in a mortar attack.

The embassy compound was strewn with shrapnel, but none of embassy staff were hurt, it said.

Aleppo, a northern city that was once a thriving trade hub, has become a central battleground in the five-year-Syrian war and is facing a humanitarian disaster.